JAKARTA: Solar power export and solar panel supply chain development projects are estimated to bring billions of US dollars to Indonesia’s economy, including around US$6bil in foreign exchange reserves.
Coordinating Infrastructure and Regional Development Ministry second undersecretary Rachmat Kaimuddin said Indonesia has 3,200 gigawatts (GW) that it could tap to support the country’s shift from fossil fuels to renewable electricity.
To fully optimise that potential, he pointed out that the development of solar power projects needs to be pursued simultaneously with the development of the domestic solar panel industry.
“If most of our renewables come from solar power, it means that Indonesia must have a solar value chain. God forbid when we are running out of fossil fuels, we still have to import solar panels. So, we must have a domestic value chain,” he said last week, as reported by Kumparan.
As of today, Indonesia has signed an agreement to export 3.4GW of solar power to Singapore. “But there are several conditions, two of which are that the solar panels and batteries must be made in Indonesia because we want to build a local supply chain,” he said. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
